The name might not ring a bell but for eleven years Kirsten O’Brian has been gracing the programmes of children’s BBC. Better known as the blonde, thin one from the art show Smart, when she playfully bounds out and asks the audience if there are many males in the audience between 25 and under, it’s not asked because they will recognise her but because she’s sure they have masturbated over her image at some point! This show is clearly going to be a million miles away from the world of sticky-back plastic, glitter and safety scissors.
It’s a shock to the system but O’Brian, while not the most effortless of comics, keeps the audience delighted with her fantastic stories about the world of children’s television. From going to a children’s hospital and unintentionally force-feeding chocolate to bulimics to a hilarious cringe-worthy tale about the time she attempted to sit next to several members of the EastEnders cast in the canteen, through putting on the Christmas lights for a small town that ended with a pellet gun attack, the audience are hooked all the way.
Her humour is delightfully self-depreciating and has you swept along with her absurd and embarrassing exploits which, despite the odd mumbled punch line and random ‘you had to be there’ moment, are great fun and surprisingly rude.
Be prepared: if you do intend to see Kirsten O’Brian’s stand-up routine, your rosy bubble of what goes on in the world of children’s television is about to be well and truly popped
4/5
Martin Miller
